After serving some five years as Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine has decided against contesting in the upcoming Local Government Elections, noting that he has already given the job his “best shot”.
“I believe I gave it my best shot for five years and they’re other…young persons, who should…take up leadership,” Narine told this publication during a telephone interview on Monday.
Narine was elected to the post of Mayor in 2018 and throughout his tenure, faced immense backlash over a wide array of issues surrounding the management of the capital city.
He is nevertheless proud of his track record.
“[My] biggest achievement was to restore City Hall which I fought for, which the project is ongoing. The second project, the Admin Building…is not completed at this point [in] time, but I know…the next Mayor or the next Council…will complete that building. All the buildings in the city constabulary… [have also been] refurbished. Garbage contract came down from $35 million to $13.5 at this point,” the Narine revealed when quizzed about his accomplishments as Mayor.
However, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall recently remarked that it was “outrageous” that after two years of construction, City Hall is still unable to complete the Administrative Building. As such, Dharmlall had said his Ministry will intervene to provide assistance in fast-tracking the project which is being financed through funds from the Central Government.
The restoration of City Hall is also being largely funded by Central Government. Dharamlall had previously expressed concerns about the Council’s inability to provide accountability for the funds being pumped into the rehabilitation project.
“Not a cent has been accounted for. Not a piece of documentation can be provided and that’s an outstanding issue which we would have to look at. We have had cases of gross incompetence and mismanagement which we will have to work to get fixed,” Dharamall had expressed in 2020.
In addition to issues with finances, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council has come under fire for its mismanagement of the city’s drainage and irrigation infrastructure. In fact, accusations of neglect and sabotage were levelled against City Hall after the absence of workers from sluices and pumps led to flooding throughout the city after a night of heavy rainfall in 2021.
Due to this posture, Central Government has now taken on a leading role in ensuring the drainage and irrigation infrastructure are functioning during the rainy seasons, with Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha remarking in 2022 that he will not be taking his changes with City Hall.
Regret
Meanwhile, when asked what was a task he regrets not getting to achieve as Mayor, Narine said the redevelopment of the Stabroek Market.
“We had a discussion with the APNU/AFC government, which [was] supposed to commence. But [the] change of government that project was redirected by the Office of the Mayor to His Excellency and other ministers. Head of Go-Invest, Mr. Peter Ramsaroop signed an MOU and when it reach cabinet, it left right there on to now,” he remarked.
Narine further shared that his biggest challenge faced as Mayor was his perceived lack of cooperation between the Government and the City Council.
Despite no longer serving on the City Council, Narine said he will remain active in politics.
Nevertheless, he will remain serving the people after completing his term.
“I’m a humble servant of the people and I will be serving the people in my own little way. But I will not remove myself…from the political arena nor my political party. I stay committed,” Narine expressed.
LGE
Local Government Elections are scheduled for June 12. The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) will be contesting all Local Authority Areas (LAAs) and hopes to increase its representation in Georgetown at the level of the City Council which is currently controlled by the PNC-led APNU+AFC.
Reports are at the last Local Government Elections in 2018, APNU won a total of 21 seats, while the PPP/C gained seven seats and the Alliance for Change (AFC) was allotted two.
APNU has not indicated whether it will participate in the upcoming polls but the AFC and other new parties such as A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TMN) have said that they will not contest.
Government Minister Susan Rodrigues had previously declared that, “The APNU+AFC Councillors have dominated the seating for decades; the PNC has been in charge of the city from its inception and it is time for a change.”
In making her case for persons to vote for the PPP/C, the Minister had argued that “everything in this country is built by the PPP…when you look around, it doesn’t matter where you are, which region you are…every school, every health center, built by the PPP, every community ground. There must come a time when we have to be honest with ourselves and understand that this party, the PPP represents progress.”
